Toothbrushes are well known in the industry. Moreover, folding and compact toothbrushes are also well known. Numerous patents have issued throughout the years to cover various improvements and novel features in the toothbrush industry. Some of these patents include: U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,298 directed to a tri-fold multipurpose toothbrush that has various head attachments; U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,258 directed to a children's folding toothbrush that is shaped like an airplane; U.S. Pat. No. 2,353,963 directed to a toothbrush that included a cavity to hold the bristles when the toothbrush was folded; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,107 directed to a toothbrush that locks in the folded position and includes a spring that normally biases the head portion away from the handle portion, such that when the folded toothbrush is unlocked the spring acts to move the toothbrush into the unfolded position.
However, with the increase in popularity of electric toothbrushes that provide for bristles that move (oscillate, vibrate, or rotate) the prior art and the industry lack the ability to provide the user with a compact electric toothbrush. Especially when a person travels, the user will typically take a folding or compact toothbrush, because electric toothbrushes are bulky. The user thus loses the ability to have a compact folding travel toothbrush that still provides moving bristles.
The present invention overcomes these shortcomings by providing a folding toothbrush that includes means for moving the bristles.